


Safe

by upsteadheart



Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:42:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29302128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upsteadheart/pseuds/upsteadheart
Summary: Post-8x04Jay takes Hailey on their first official date.
Relationships: Jay Halstead & Hailey Upton, Jay Halstead/Hailey Upton
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Safe

Jay stood leaning against his desk, phone at hand, his thumb tapping nervously against the back of the device. Kevin stepped back into the bullpen from filing some paperwork downstairs with Platt.

“Hey, man, you good? Lookin’ a little sickly.” The officer worried about his friend. “Yeah, yeah.” Jay shook it off. “Just, uh… Little outta practice.” Jay returned.

Atwater smiled sympathetically at the detective. “Y’already got the girl, bro. You did the hard part. Now you just gotta show her a good time, make her feel special.” Kevin reassured him.

Jay nodded his head, his nerves still not any calmer. Platt came up the steps into the bullpen with a few folders at hand. “You clean up nice, detective.” The desk sergeant complimented, smiling in Jay’s direction.

“Thanks, serge.” He smiled back. “Little outta practice?” She guessed, as if she’d heard him say just those words to Kevin not thirty seconds earlier.

Jay released a nervous chuckle. “That obvious, huh?” He dropped. Trudy chuckled back. “I know it took ya a while to dig yourself up outta that hole after Erin left.” Jay looked up at the sergeant at that.

“But you’ve got a real one with Hailey. She looks at you like the last man walkin’ the earth. The hell the two of you’ve been through; nobody in the world deserves this happiness more than the two of you.” Trudy told him.

Jay cracked a tad more convincing of a smile at the sergeant’s words. “Thanks, Trudy.” Jay told her sincerely. Trudy did a double-take, looking over his shoulder down the hall.

“Oh my god…” She dropped, making Jay turn his head to look over his own shoulder and nearly faint at the sight before him.

His stunning Greek goddess, in a tight-fitting black number, her blonde locks let down from the confines of the ponytail she’d had her hair in all day, now bouncing on her shoulders. And her stunning features accentuated by the nude lip she had painted on her already intoxicating mouth.

“Hey, good lookin’.” Hailey smiled at her boyfriend.

“Damn, Upton!” Atwater whistled, making Hailey blush. “You look amazing, Hailey.” Trudy smiled, making the blonde beam at the sergeant.

Then she turned to look at her boyfriend, who looked like he was ogling a new Ferrari. “Wow…” He dropped. “Look what I get to call mine…” Jay shook his head, extending his hand out to her to bring her closer to stand between his knees, pressing a soft peck against her lips.

Jay dropped his hands to her waist, as Hailey deposited her clutch on top of his desk and dropped her arms around his neck.

“Meet the criteria you were lookin’ for tonight?” She joked with a short laugh. “No… You’re so much more perfect.” Jay told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead, making Hailey fall in love with him all over again at the way he looked at her.

Their heads both turned to the side, hearing Voight step out of his office and lean against the frame, arms crossed over his chest in his usual stance, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“The two o’ you take the day off tomorrow, stay out as late as you want and for God’s sake have some fun, will ya?” The sergeant told them.

He had been quite a bit hesitant when he first caught wind of something going on between his detectives. But since that day he’d caught them verbally sparring outside the interrogation room, they’d proved time and time again that they could separate work from personal.

And if he was being honest, Jay was the closest thing he’d had to a son since Justin died and Hailey had come to be like a daughter to him. Seeing them both so happy after all they’d been through, both together and apart, overjoyed him.

“Ya sure, serge?” Hailey asked him, taken aback at the offer. “Eh, eh, the man gave you a day off free of charge. Don’t go spittin’ on it.” Atwater joked.

“Neither one of you’ve missed a day of work since you started in this unit. The last few years you’ve had… Enjoy a well-deserved date-night just the two of you.” Hank encouraged.

Jay nodded at their boss. “Appreciate it, serge.” He told their boss, getting a nod back from Voight. “Ready, babe?” He then asked his girlfriend.

“Never been more.” Hailey returned, slipping her hand into Jay’s, as he led them out of 21 for the weekend. “Have a good night!” “Enjoy!” The calls came from behind them.

Pulling up outside of ‘Steak 48’ off of Wabash, Hailey suddenly realized what the call for fancier attire was for tonight. Having put the car in park, Jay came around to Hailey’s side, opening her door for her, smiling as he held out his hand to her to help her out.

Hand in hand, they walked towards the restaurant entrance. Hailey waited quietly, as Jay gave his name to the host. “Right this way.” The host led them.

“Hails?” She heard, making her snap out of a daze she wasn’t aware of having been in while looking around the restaurant. She looked back at her boyfriend to see the host gesturing towards their table.

With a small smile, she followed suit, Jay leading her by the hand. “Here we are.” The host finally landed on a back table set for two.

Jay pulled out a chair for her, letting Hailey take the seat and leave her jacket on the back of the chair, before coming around to his own seat across from her.

“Can I offer you a drink to get started?” The host asked them. “Baby?” Jay asked Hailey first. “Uh… Glass of red wine, please.” She smiled at the tall fair-haired man.

“Would you like a five, six or eight-ounce, ma’am?” The man asked her. “Uh… eight please.” She returned. 

“Perfect, and for you, sir?” He then turned to Jay. “I’ll have a scotch-fire, please, double on the rocks.” Jay ordered.

“Perfect. I’ll bring those right over in a moment. In the meantime, please take your time looking over our menu. If you have any questions, my name is André.” The host told them.

“Thanks.” Jay smiled at him, as André headed towards the bar to get their drinks. Jay turned back to look at his girlfriend, finding Hailey looking around the place like a lost puppy.

“Hails?” He spoke softly, catching her attention. “Hm.” She turned back. “Oh, sorry…” Hailey smiled, snapping out of it and dropped her hand to his.

“Everything okay?” Jay asked her. She released a deep breath and sigh she’d been holding in since they pulled up to the parking lot.

“I didn’t… realize how much you were spending on tonight.” Hailey admitted her point of worry. Jay smiled sympathetically, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand.

“Hails.” He took the other hand in his opposite. “I’m not goin’ outta my way to drop a crazy amount of money just cause, or because I feel like I gotta impress you…” Jay assured her.

“Truth is… I’ve been thinkin’ about my mom a lot lately since you and I started going exclusive. It was her dying wish that one day I’d bring home a girl and tell her I was gonna marry her someday.

And I know we’re nowhere near there yet, and we’ve only been exclusive for a little over a month. But you’re the first girl I’ve had serious regrets about her not meeting.

So, when I was trying to figure out where to take you tonight… This was her _favourite_ restaurant on the island.” Hailey felt her heart melt, and a pang of guilt hit her all of a sudden for making such a fuss.

Her face dropped a little. “So, I’m sitting here being ungrateful and insecure, and you just pulled _the_ boyfriend move of the century.” Hailey scolded herself out loud.

“Baby…” Jay squeezed her hands reassuringly, bringing her head back down. “Hails, I know you had it rough growing up. My reality wasn’t much better, but it wasn’t half the hell you dealt with.

You powered through, warrior from day one.” Jay told her, his hand on her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away a stray tear she couldn’t hold back.

“Got your life in check, made something of yourself and now you put your life on the line every day to protect other people against the evils nobody protected you from.

So, yes, being your partner now… In more ways than one… I take pleasure in treating you and finding new ways to surprise you, and make you happy and just see you smile even for just a minute.” She couldn’t fight one of her signature golden smiles at that.

“I love you, Hailey.” The blonde’s heart dropped at that. “And I hope someday real soon, you’ll wake up and realize that you deserve to be happy and you deserve to be loved.

And until then, I will keep fighting you, tooth and nail. Push me away all you want, tell me every chance you get that you wanna be alone. I’m gonna be right there beside you.” If they weren’t in the middle of a fairly busy, public restaurant, Hailey would just absolutely break down right now.

She tilted her head back a little, damning her mascara not to run. “I’m not gonna cry… my makeup’s too pretty…” Hailey rambled off to herself, making Jay laugh. She was good at that.

Hailey finally managed to sniff back her tears. She brought her head back down to face him again. Then reached out and stroked his stubbly chin with her thumb, before kissing him.

“I love you, Jay.” Now _he_ was gonna breakdown. “To the moon and back.” She tacked on.

After dinner, Jay took Hailey out back to the currently deserted patio which overlooked lake Michigan. Hailey leaned both hands on the railing, as Jay stood beside her with one hand on the railing and the other arm around her waist.

Hailey smiled, dropping one hand to the one he had on her stomach, lacing her fingers through his and leaning her head against him.

Jay pressed a kiss against her head, making Hailey melt into his embrace. Their first ‘I love you’ had been exchanged, breaking down the last remaining shred of wall that had been standing between them.

Hailey turned around in his arms, hers wrapping around his neck, and looked into his eyes. “Thank you, for loving me.” He pressed a long, slow, soft kiss against her forehead, embracing her close, then smiled down into her eyes.

“You make it easy.” Jay told her, getting a tad choked. Hailey’s eyes immediately damped, her lip quivering slightly. After spending her whole life being constantly chased by this darkness she could never get away from,

one look into Jay’s eyes and she saw light for the first time. His thumb swiped under her eye to catch a falling tear and hugged her tight.

This was it. This was as close to what she’d imagined security to feel like all her life. Except it far exceeded even her wildest of expectations.

She was finally safe. 

**Author's Note:**

> That's all folks! Lemme know what you think! x


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